


The ending

by Programcade



Category: Constantine (Comic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 06:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16826641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Programcade/pseuds/Programcade
Summary: John takes a case and has no idea what he has signed up for.





	The ending

The Suburbs

Smoke clinged to his coat int that all too familliar way. Standing in the doorway cigarette in hand John looks calm concidering the Screeching demon that stands but four feet away from him in the body of a fifteen year old girl handcuffed by the legs to the radiator mounted on the wall.  
Not Like Newcastle. John keeps thinking.   
He stands and puts the cigarette out on the doorframe. He walks towards the screecher and throws his coat to one side and pushes up his sleeves. Holding out his hands spreading his feet shoulder width apart. John begins to chant.  
"Eliqui Boray Mesforu In-Des Men Deeprium" Over and over again.  
The girl begins to spasm violently. Her eyes roll black and red and a deep purple ooze pulsates out of her mouth. A voice of something old and repulsive creeps out from between the lips of the girl.   
"CONSTANTINE! You wretched human stain, EXORCISE ME AND SHE DIES!   
The girl's parents are cowering in the corner, watching the horror that has befallen their daughter, they gasp aloud when they hear it speak from within their daughter.  
Surprisingly John is smirking.  
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SO HAPPY ABOUT? DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME? SHE DIES!" The demon shrieks at John.  
"Oh I heard you mate, I din't call you out to exorcise you, I needed you at the forefront of the vessel. You're exposed and I plan on killing you!" John continues to smirk.  
John casually points to the ceiling.  
"NO! YOU COWARD!" it screams.  
It looks up to see that painted on the ceiling is a Soul Snare.  
Now a Soul Snare is like an ejectors seat that rips out something that doesn't belong to the host, but the downside is anything that is snared that doesn't have another vacant vessel to occupy, it dies.  
John begins to cast an enchantment, a dark precense begins to withdraw from the girls body, it flows slowly towards the ceiling. It's being ripped out edging higher and higher. When the last thread of the demon leaves the girl's body she goes limp and collapses. John shouts and screams the final pert of the incantation and the precense explodes knocking over furtniture and smashing the glass in the windows and on the TV.  
The parents rush to the girl picking her limp body up off the floor, hugging her and holding her. She begins to regain conciousness, coughing and weezing to catch her breathe. The mother is crying and rocking back and forth holding the girls head. The father stands up, tears rolling down his cheeks and walks to John.  
"Thank you so much Mr. Constantine, Thank you. I don't know what we would do if that thing had killed our daughter, you're a god send"  
"I Wouldn't say" that John replies  
"Is there anything we can do to repay you?" The father asks  
John casually walks across the room to pick up the dusted trench coat and puts it on.   
"Just pay your bill" John replies and hands the father a small piece of paper. The father looks at it, John looks away wincing his face hoping the father doesn't become offended by the bill.  
"Really? Mr. Constantine this is the bill?"  
"Yeah mate, sorry" John reluctantly replies.  
"Surely this isn't right?" The father asks  
John turns to the father and steps to his side to try and explain a breakdown of the bill, before John can get a word in the father indicates to John to follow him into the other room.  
The father begins to open a small wall safe hidden behind a painting in what appears to be a study.  
"Now listen mate... the bill is honestly" but before John gets to finish the father hands him a wad of cash.  
"Mr. Constantine $1100 is simply not enough of a repayment for what you have done for us here today, Take this. I know it's not a enough but there is $6000 there and you deserve every cent" a look of surprise washes over John's face.  
"Oh right, well thanks mate." John is happy and a wild smile covers his face, he is grinning practically ear to ear.  
"Honestly Mr.Constantine I can fetch another £4000 from the bank in the week and deliver it to you, I think it is a fair payment" The father is rather insisent.  
"No, no no, this is more than enough, you have already more than tripled your bill payment there is no need." John struggles to reply but his concience outweighs his greed this time and he refuses the rest of the payment.  
"I'll be on my way then" John says as he starts to exit the house. By the time he gets to the front hall the girl is awake and curled up in a ball on the floor still being hugged by her wailing mother.

John leaves and walks just out of the garden and up the street about 100 yards and gets into the back of a New Jersey Yellow Cab, not the usual cab you'd see. This one has been converted into a cab out of a 1950's Ford Thunderbird, dirty yellow on the outstide with big black and white chequered vinyl aross both sides, with white wall tires and silver full covered rims. Inside is clean sharp deep red and cream leather bucket seats, with no gap between driver and passanger. John climbs inside the passanger seat and sits next to a man wearing a dark green military jacket. Black t shirt, blue jeans and brown boots, with a freshly shaven head and scraggly beard the man turns to john and asks.  
"So? How did it go?"  
"You won't beleive this Chas mate, She's still alive and they paid... well you will belive she is still alive that was the aim of the game but they paid £6000, that's more than we usually earn in a month." John gets the wad of cash out and licks his finger and thumb and starts to count it.  
"I could get used to working the suburbs you know Chas" John smiles and seperates the money into two piles, one larger than the other by quite a lot.  
"Here mate that's a thousand for you and five for me" John hands over the money.  
"Thanks John" Chas replies. "You know you don't have to give me this much."  
"Hey mate, it was your idea to snare the little bastard if it's grip was too strong and you researched the incantation... besides your drove me here." There's a moments silence before John speaks again "Anyway mate back to the city"

Nobody talks on the way back to Chicago, John stares out the passanger windows at the street lights flickering past as the sky gets dark.

They eventually get back to the city and pull up outside an old abandoned post office. It lies underneath an overpass, attatched to the support beam by the left wall with a large fenced courtyard to the right. The post office looks decrepit and severely delapidated from the outside. The only thing that looks tidy in any way is the courtyard, in a dog leg to the left that curves behind the building there are some dumpsters and a completely empty car park, fenced off with a blue mesh wire and no gate the building is easily accessible. John and Chas pull up to the small staircase to the right of the main entrance inside the courtyard and head inside parking the taxi out in the open.  
"Beer?" John asks Chas as the first thing he does once they get inside is head to the fridge.  
"sure" Chas replies.  
John gets two beers from the fridge and gives one to Chas. He takes off his coat and hangs it up on a hook on the wall. The isnside of the building looks nothing like the outside. Once inside the small hallway you enter is that of a post office, grey bricks, cobwebs in the corners, the hall is no bigger than four feet wide and three feet deep there is really nothing to it than to seperate the inside from the outside. There are white double doors face on to the main enterance leading to the inside of the building. Once inside the building itself through the white double doors everything changes.

The main room is large about thirty foot squared, with thin spiral staircases on the left and right of the room that lead to a balcony that runs the length of the entire room as an upper level. At the center of the room is a large round table that appears to be seethrough except for a 10 inch stained class frame around the edge of the table, the centre of the table emits a deep green and blue glow that illuminates part of the room. Scattered around the room are artifacts on tables and in cabinets, and in one corner of the room is a large armchair and small table in front of a firepit. With only one other door in the room at the back. it makes you wonder how such a small building can house such an incredible design and capacity.

John makes his way to the table in the center of the room and drinks his beer. Chas approaches the table and stands next to john. When they look down at the table a mystical map appears, almost like a video game it's a birds eye view of the area with what looks like bright spots in certain locations. "so what next John?" Chas asks looking at the map.  
John extends his hand to a rollerball that sits on a control panel at the six o clock position of the table where John and Chas are standing, John begins manipulating the map.  
"Well then let's take a look and see what's next" John begins to scroll through the map jumping from one point to the next calling out what little information there is or what he suspects to be the problem.  
"Small child climbing the ceiling... too easy.  
Woman seeing dead people... Boring  
Bus load of pupils falling into comas... sounds like something for the CDC  
Man sees terrifying figures at night... Batman maybe... seriusly though Chas not for us.  
Oh here's one, teenage boy says he can see black things sucking the life out of old people where he works... Sounds like spira wraiths... perfect" John looks into the info on the map and heads to the wall of books up the stairs on the north side of the building.  
"Spira...Spira...Spira.. Let's see, there's got to be one here somewhere.. AHA.. got it, let's see what you're made of you filfthy bastards" John removes the book from the shelf and starts reading the book, standing on the north balcony beer in one hand and book in the other leaning over the rail whilst Chas is sitting in the armchair opposite the fire drinking his beer.  
"So what do you say Chas? Get started in the morning? Or do you want to go now? Bare in mind it is the old commercial district." John closes the book and throws it down to one of the desks below, narrowly avoiding a small relic of some kind. It looks like a silver black rock, jaggard on all sides and a slight green glow to it.   
"Let's start a fresh in the morning" Chas replies kicking his boots off and sticking his feet up.  
"Right you are then mate...Well I'm off to bed wake me at an appropriate hour to get going ok?" John comes downstairs and heads through the only door in the room aside from the entrance. There's a glow of white light under the door before it opens, when John opens the door we catch a glimpse of his room, simple grey walls and black carpet with what looks like a wardrobe filled with white shirts. John goes through the door and leaves Chas to rest by himself.

The Witness

The sun has already been up for a few hours when Chas is up and dressed and stars shouting  
"House bring me John, it's time to wake him up" Looking at the only door waiting for the white light Chas stands with his hand out waiting over the door handle, the white glow illuminates briefly and Chas opens the door to John's room.  
"Get your ass up John it's time" John is laying face down on a mattress on the floor half asleep. A short kick from Chas, and John is awake. Chas leaves the room to wait for John.

Thirty Minutes pass by and Chas is waiting in the car. John eventually leaves the building, he's carrying a leather bag similar to that of an old doctor's bag, worn and well used the bag looks distressed, brown leather with worn patches all over. John walks straight to the back of the cab opens the boot and throws the bag inside, slams the boot and heads to the back seat. Once inside the car John lights a cigarette and lowers the window.   
"Ok mate, let's go" John smiles.   
Chas starts the car and pulls away. It's not long before John and Chas are on the freeway heading to the outskirts of town.  
"So what do we know?" Chas looks back in the rear view mirror at John who is buried in an old dusty book.  
"Well, aside from the fact that these things feed on expiring life, we know that this is in a care home I mean for all we know mate there is nothing supernatural going on here at all... well nothing out of place supernatural. I mean this kid could be a Linear or could have just had a near death, I suppose we'll see." John doesn't look up from the book the entire time.  
Now to fill you in a Linear is someone who has magic blood, so the son or daughter of a warlock, or a mystic. The result of a magic experiment, someone who has had exposure to the essence of magic be it by accident or intentionally. Not everyone knows about the existence of magic let alone belive that it's real. Once exposed you'll see things that you would never believe exist. You will notice things and hear things and discover things that would change your life forever.

They finally arrive. They pull up outside of an old almost derelict looking building called "Autumn Leaves Care Home for the aged and infirm."   
"Well doesn't that fill you with hope mate, you spend your life working fingers to the bone or you serve your country and fight in a war that has nothing to do with you, you raise some kids and be a great a mum or dad, and for your troubles you get dumped in a place like this. I mean we should of brought the time shifter here, he'd of seen were people end up and changed his mind and buggered off back to hell on his own." John smiles to himself, cigaratte hanging out of the corner of his mouth. Chas scoffs at the remark.  
  
Now I bet you're wondering why we are here, YOU I mean. Why I have brought you here to watch these two men and why I'm telling you their story. Well I'm not important they are and you are, I'll fill you in from time to time, and you'll get to meet me later, but right now John and Chas are about embark on a journey they know nothing about. Oh and to help you understand what John was talking about just then a Time shifter is a demon of sorts that embodies a host and steals it's youth and then moves onto the next so It can live forever but the thing is, everytime it steals youth from it's host it get's visibly older. So if it inhabits a twenty something for six months the host looks about eighty five. You can see why John thought what he said was funny. Anyway back to john and Chas, things are about to get interesting.

John gets out of the cab and so does Chas, leaning against the front of the cab facing the building from accross the street John finishes his cigarette and puts it out.  
"Recon first mate" John pulls out a deck of cards and searches through for the King of Hearts. Gives the rest of the deck to Chas "Wait here mate, won't be long."  
Chas shrugs and reaches into the drivers seat and pulls out a news paper, he leans back against the bonnet of the car watching John cross the road and opens the paper.  
John walks straight inside to what can only be described as a sensery deprivation tactic, a beige building, tope walls and cream coloured carpet white door frames and brown and beige art on the walls, dull brown dressing gowns and the overall smell of urine and hard boiled sweets overwhelms John a little when he gets inside. He makes his way to the reception desk where a middle aged latina women sits. Without looking up she asks  
"Who are you, What do you want?"   
John pulls the playing card from his pocket and flashes it at the receptionist who still doesn't seem to care, she looks up and still un impressed waits for John to say something.  
"Agent Ramone love, FBI. I'm hear looking for a porter by the name of...." before John get's a chance to finish rifling through his pockets for the note the receptionist cut's him off.  
"Alverez..hmm..down the hall straight to the end last left before the elavator, and mind your step" She quickly dismisses John and goes back to reading whatever gossip rag is spread out on the counter below her.  
John shrugs this off and puts away the card and heads down the hall following the instructions. He get's to the back of the hall and takes the left.   
John gets to the end of the hall and finds a small room where there is a table with some playing cards, a small tv on in the background and two small beds.  
"Alvarez" John shouts out.  
"Jesus Christ mate" John jumps when a hand taps him on the shoulder.  
"I could of ripped your bloody eyes out there mate, what are you doing sneaking up on someone like that" John looks the man up and down  
"You walked right past me sir." he replies "Anyway I'm Alvarez" standing before John is hispanic male early twenties with short black hair and dark purple scrubs on, he has the faint oroma of cannabis and John immediately sees why the nurse at the front desk though he was here for him.  
"Well Alvarez mate, Agent Ramone FBI" John flashes the playing card again. Alvarez moves past John into the room and sits at the table, he offers John a seat. John sits and immediately starts questioning Alverez.  
"So Alvarez, I'm here becuase of a report you gave to CPD two days ago" John take out his cigarettes, "You mind?" Alvarez shakes his head.  
"So what you work with Moulder and scully then? and you can call me Franky" He looks skeptically at John and takes out a small tin and some papers "You Mind?" John smiles and shakes his head.  
"You've got balls I'll give you that mate, but no. I work in the ... deviant crimes unit, and anyone who dressed in black and tries to feed on the blood of old people isn't exatcly ticketyboo in the head now are they?" John lights his cigarette and waits for the reply.  
"Firstly who said feeding on blood, and secondly it weren't no human man, it was freaky skinny and floated, it had no legs and was drinking like a bright purple-y pink smoke thing out of the mouths of some folks here, a few days later they died man. And they was healthy too." Alvarez starts to look a little pale. John dismisses the MJ straight away.  
"Ok you got the names of these people and I'll Look into it." John gets out some paper and writes down the names of the two people, he then tears off a piece and writes something down. "Here's my number mate. Anything call me yeah." He get's up and head to the doorway, he turns back to Franky "Oh and light some incense will ya' mate, preferbly something with oranges in helps neutralize the smell yeah." He leaves the building and heads back out to chas.

"There's definately something for us here mate, we've got two names so on to the morgue."  
They get in the car and head off.


End file.
